Vulture Shooting
by BloodRedFetish
Summary: Warning, slash. A summer's day before an evening's concert... the possibilities are endless
1. Default Chapter

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Written by Kiit Marlowe.  
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. If they did d'you think I'd be writing fanfiction? Nah, I'd be doing a Mimi and shopping..... (Yup, this is my standard disclaimer now. I really can't be bothered to think of another one.)  
Don't bother sueing me; for one thing you have no idea who I am even, so it would be bloody pointless.  
I don't really have any idea how this one'll turn out. It may be a yaoi, most likely so don't read if ya get squeemish or anything like that. Though I haven't actually had any feedback on any of my stories, let alone a flame, and I do feel like I've failed somewhat. I'm in a weird happy mood, so there should be very little angst, and hopefully pure fluff.  
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"Why don't you just fuck off!?!?!" I could hear his voice echoing from the trees across to us in the park, up about seven octaves from his usual husky drawl in pissed off exasperation. He emerged from the copse with her in hot pursuit.  
  
"But Yama-chan...." She whined.  
  
"DON'T call me that. Do you not get it? Leave me alone." The pure strength in his voice alone should have made her quake in fear but damn, was she persistant. She reached out and stroked his arm. Jerking away and clenching his fists automatically he looked ready to deck her. They stared at each other, her in adoration and Yamato in pure loathing.  
  
"I'll see you at the concert tonight." She purred. "You better be ready for me." And with that she was off, her lawnmower chopped red hair bouncing like a hedgehog that's just been runover by a truck being used as a football. I like my mental images.   
  
Yamato stared at her receeding back in a mixture of shock, fear and downright disgust. Shaking his head he slumped down on the grass next to me. "Daisuke, your sister is a complete vulture."  
  
Dai looked up from his conversation with Takeru. "Yeah? And?" He blinked in bewilderment. "I'm sorry she's stalking you. I HAVE tried to put her off but..." He shrugged. "She doesn't get the message."  
  
"It's not your fault." Yamato assured him. Daisuke smiled, pleased get a reation from the one he regarded as the most aloof of the group. It was sweet; he was so delighted to be accepted into the group. He, Ken and Takeru skittered off to play football, leaving us alone with the food.  
  
"Nah, it's all your fault." I teased him. "If ya weren't such a sexy beast..." He threw a malteaser at me, neatly hitting me on the nose. "You are so dead Ishida."  
  
Half a box of sweets later and he surrendered, using the excuse that he actually wanted to eat them without added grassy bits.  
  
"So, you ready for being mobbed tonight?" I asked, only half joking. He laid back and stared at the clouds, blue eyes taking on a thoughtful glaze.  
  
"I wish there was some way of getting them all of my back. It's not like we'd lose fans if I was taken, cause Kuso is just as popular-"  
  
"Liar." I told him. "He's... good looking in his own way and he can play very well, but there's not the... Damn, how did Hikari describe it? The magnetism you have. Oh, I dunno." I flopped back along side him. "I sound like a magazine article."  
  
"Which reminds me." Yamato added, turning to face me. "They need to interview the 'Star' of the soccer team. School web page feature. Kari's got a picture from the last game. It's just one of those fill out quiz things about what tooth paste you use and weird stuff like that. I have one too, so all the stalkers can know what I wear to bed without having to find out for themselves. Which I am infinitely grateful for."  
  
"I have an idea." I told him, smiling mischievously. "How's about I fill in your's and you fill in mine?"  
  
"Y'know, I thought you had an evil scheme for a second there. But as I can't be bothered to move, I'll go along with it."  
  
I tugged his folder out of his bag and handed him a pencil. Then I got to work on his profile. There were some seriously warped questions there. They had been sent in by fans of his band, and I personally question the sanity anyone who wants to know what kind of underwear he wears on Thursdays. Which are boxers incidentally, cause he wears those pretty much all the time. And what does knowing his favourite colour of jelly bean actually achieve? But things like starsign: Virgo; and questions like 'what is your favourite item of jewelry': silver ring on left index finger; were really easy. I had to crack up on the 'What is your favourite make-up?' question. I think it was meaning: 'What is your favourite make-up on a girl' but I answered it as black nail varnish and kohl anyhow.   
  
"Hey man, what's your 'Favourite hair colour'?" I asked him. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Uh, brown? I have no idea! Just so long as it's not red and belonging to Jun."  
  
"Eyes?"  
  
"Balls."  
  
"Yamato!" I cracked up at the deadpan tone and double meaning. He smiled at me, pleased.  
  
"Joking. Uh, chocolate probably. Do you want a sappy explanation for that like 'because they're so sweet.'" He took on an mincing tone and laughed. "Okay, same back to you."  
  
"Hair. Natural. I.e, not Pink or Purple. Not reddish, ugh. Brown reminds me of Hikari, so blonde will do me. Eyes, I don't care so long as they're deep. Blue goes best with the blonde though, as you and Takeru demonstrate."  
  
"Yeah, we're the epitomy of dumb blonde."  
  
"I still don't get how Mimi isn't." Yamato hit me gently. "I also still don't see the point of this. 'How many times have you slept with someone?'!?!" I watched his reaction. The pink blush started in little points on his cheeks, spread across the cheekbones and his nose until the whole of his face was flushed with rose. "Oooh, Something I didn't know, huh?"  
  
"Nope. Still holding on for that special person. Though you can write that I've had many, many conquests. I did for you."  
  
"Boosting your street cred the Ishida way." I quipped, earning a slow grin from him.   
  
"So, uh, have you... ever?"  
  
"I uh, have..never." I mimicked him. "Jeez Yama, I'm seventeen. I'm not involved with anyone or anything like that. So no."  
  
"Not with Sora?" I laughed. He blinked at me innocently. I love that look. "It's a good question."  
  
"No. Not with Sora, though she does try, bless her. Ugh, no way! I'd rather screw Agumon!"  
  
"Now there's a mental picture I never wanted. Tai! Argh, it's gonna take forever to erase that one!" Yamato grimaced and playfully punched me. "We haven't done this for ages."  
  
"Haven't done what?" I asked.  
  
"This." He waved his hand expansively. "Just lying here and talking on a lovely summer's day."  
  
"Yeah, blue skies, birds singing, flowers swaying in the gentle breeze, a gorgeous guy next to me-" I teased.  
  
"Man, you two have waaaaaaay too much pillow talk to be healthy." Takeru added.  
  
"'Pillow Talk'?!?!" Yamato yelped. "Taichi, this is my little brother, who spends what, at least an hour a night on the phone to your little sister before going to bed? If I remember correctly it goes along the lines of:" He pitched his voice to match Takeru's. "'No you put the phone down first.'"  
  
I joined in, taking on Hikari's articulation. "'No you'"  
  
"'You'"  
  
"'No, You.'"  
  
"'Love you.'" He sighed to me.  
  
I made a kissy noise. "'Love you too.'" We both collapsed into a fit of giggles that was hardly becoming for two seventeen year old boys.  
  
"You two sound like you've done that before." Daisuke commented, flashing a grin at Ken.  
  
The indigo haired boy looked slightly confused, but put it down to our general weirdness. "So you listen in on your sibling's phone conversations?"  
  
"You can hardly miss it when you share a house." I qualified.   
  
"I've been over at Mother's enough to hear Keru getting slushy."  
  
"And over enough at Taichi's to hear Hikari." His little brother muttered bitterly. "It's far worse when you're saying goodnight to her and knowing your brother's sleeping like three metres away from her."  
  
"With her brother." Ken added innocently. Or not so innocently, if you thought about it. Both Yamato and I glomped him and set about ruining his hair. Takeru and Daisuke jumped into the fray and we found ourselves having a mad five way brawl. Complete chaos. I ended up breathless, with Daisuke in a headlock, Takeru playfully pummelling Ken's arm to the left of me and Yamato's legs pinned firmly beneath my own. I couldn't stop laughing and Dai wriggled out of the hold to split up his friends.  
  
"Yagami, lemme up, there's a good boy." Yamato said, blue eyes looking up at me. Irresistible little boy face that he knows gets me everytime.  
  
"What's in it for me?" I asked, leering down at him. He cracked up, which was my intention.  
  
"Gods Tai, you so can't leer. You look like a damn puppy. Lemme up and I'll buy you an icecream, kay?"  
  
"Only if it's Rocky Road." I told him.  
  
His face clouded over; closed in on itself. "Why do you say that?" he asked sharply.  
  
"Uh, I like Rocky Road?"  
  
He considered this for a moment, and then relaxed. "Guess I'll have vanilla then." He said, half smile playing across his lips. Strange boy. I let him up and we scampered over to the shop, the kids hot on our heels.   
  
"Yummmmmmmmmm." Ken murmured, being very un-Ken like in his speed of demolishing the strawberry ice. Daisuke's disappeared almost as quickly, while Takeru was still nibbling on the cone. I was concentrating on carrying my own back to our spot when Yamato's pink tongue lapped a drip off my hand. I don't know who looked more surprised; him or me. Then he smiled and offered me a lick of his own. Not his hand, obviously; though that would have been interesting....  
  
"Yama, I think I have a cunning plan!" I announced in true Blackadder style.  
  
Elegant eyebrow raised in my direction. "Yes Baldrick? Is this about tonight?"  
  
I couldn't stop grinning. "Yes. It'll get all those teenybopper stalkers off your back. But you'll have to trust me on this one. I'm not saying anything more until tonight."  
  
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	2. Gig nights

I wasn't entirely sure why I was shaking; whether it was fear from the fact I was about to be pushed on stage in front of hundreds of people; That Jun was waiting as soon as I stepped off the stage from those hundreds of people; or the fact that Tai had a cunning plan which he so far had failed to execute. They all terrified me. It was just pin-pointing the one that was really scary. I was actually quite pleased I'd narrowed it down to three.  
  
"'Niichan?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm almost ready." Keru left. I checked my hair again. Still in place. My eyeliner was perfect, curtsey of Miyako, and I had my guitar slung over my shoulder. I looked somewhat... girly, but the screaming fans didn't seem to care. I had no other excuse not to get out there. But I hesitated for a couple of seconds longer, saying a silent thank you to Gabumon.  
  
A warm hand on my upper arm brought me out of my daze. "C'mon man, before they start breaking up the speakers." Taichi told me gently, brown eyes twinkling. "For a second there I actually thought you were thinking."  
  
I snorted, knowing Tai's tactics on making me get out of a slump. "The fact that you thought something was the bit that tipped my world upside down." I drawled.  
  
"'And now, on stage, the king of sarcasm himself, Mister Ishida Yamato.'" Taichi mimicked the stage announcer, while propelling me toward the wings. "You'll be great Yama. You always are."  
  
"Flatterer." I told him, unable to keep the pleased tone out of my voice as well as not stopping the satisfied smile from appearing. "I'll see you after?"  
  
"Of course, baka. I'm your bodyguard, remember? No vultures within a twenty metre radius." I grinned. The adrenaline was now in my blood stream and I was ready. I could feel my voice closing up, but there was sod all I could do about it. "And hey, you look really sexy so its gonna be a hard job."  
  
"Thanks." I positively purred before stepping onto the stage. Then it hit me. Okaaaay, that was weird. And I just purred. Right. This is really weird. Add another thing to my list of scariness.  
  
I blanked this from my mind. "Alriiiiiight!" I yelled to the crowd. "Are you guys okay?" They roared back at me happily. "Okay then, lets get going."  
  
We were kicking off. The crowd screamed, the band rocked, I loved every second. Far too soon for me, we were almost finished. Rek, our drummer, called over to me.  
  
"Wind it up man! Guys, we need to keep it at this pace. Change the last song." For such a little girl, Rek is terrifying when she wants to be. We'd planned on doing a cover of an old song as a finale, but it was admittedly rather slow. She pounded on the drums to keep my attention. "Do the new one Yama wrote. Get 'em all buying the cd!"  
  
"But.." I choked. I really needed a little bit of time for this song. It was kinda... personal.  
  
"Ishida! Sing." Kuso barked at me, looking up from his guitar. "Get on with it man."  
  
"Oh, and introduce it won't cha?" Titus added, sickly sweet. I was ready to smack him over the head with his own bass.  
  
"I'll get you all for this." I promised darkly, before returning to the mic. "Um, we'd like to finish with a new song. It's a lot faster than we planned for an end, but," I flashed a grin even though I felt sick to my stomach. "We reckon you can take it. This is written for someone who's-" I broke off. "Hell, I'll sing it. This is 'Loki Tagged'. Hope you like it." You'd bloody better. I added silently as I started.  
  
"People call me paranoid People really don't have a clue Faith is easily misplaced  
  
But I know what I know and I know that I know how I know I know it's true Because I know what I know and I know that I know how I know I know it's true"  
  
The drums pound, my head is spinning like crazy. The crowd seems to like it, but I can't tell for sure because my eyes are clamped shut.  
  
"Smiles back but backstabs All I've been is Loki tagged Just lies right at me through her teeth Smiles back but backstabs All she plays is Loki tag Just tells me I'm so wrong in my belief Smiles right back Smiles right back Twists that dagger in"  
  
I risk peering into the crowd. Sora's sneering at me. She's got the message. I grin slightly. Teach her not to spread rumours behind my back.  
  
"People call me cynical People don't have clue Mortality isn't how it seems"  
  
Mortality!?!? I laugh at that line. That's why I left it in. The guys thought I'd learnt a way to manipulate my voice, but it's actually just a chuckle while I'm singing. The Digital world always springs to my mind when I'm writing and this was a nice enough reference to be ambigious.  
  
"But I know what I know and I know that I know how I know I know it's true Because I know what I know and I know that I know how I know I know it's true  
  
Smiles back but backstabs All I've been is Loki tagged Just lies right at me through her teeth Smiles back but backstabs All she plays is Loki tag Just tells me I'm so wrong in my belief Smiles right back Smiles right back Twists that dagger in"  
  
Wicked guitar solo by Kuso here. Just at the end I joined him, playing the harmony line, spiralling upwards and kalidoscopic. We leant together, unconciously taking a shared stance reminisant of so many bands before our time. I was so completely lost in the music that I didn't have time to worry about the next verse, far too much information in my opinion. I hadn't wanted it to be in, and had removed it from the version I showed the others, but Rek found the draft and thought it was sweet and made me leave it in.  
  
"People call me depressive I'm a fallen angel just for him He doesn't ever label me"  
  
Sora's glaring more. Taichi mouths to me a comment. I blush, before catching the fact that he's asking if 'him' is Takeru. I shake my head, laughing. I suppose it is in a way. The angel bit is highly appropriate.  
  
"But I know what I know and I know that I know how I know I know it's true Because I know what I know and I know that I know how I know I know it's true  
  
Smiles back but backstabs All I've been is Loki tagged Just lies right at me through her teeth Smiles back but backstabs All she plays is Loki tag Just tells me I'm so wrong in my belief Smiles right back Smiles right back Twists that trust right out"  
  
Tai gets the admission that I don't do trust. He grins and gives me a victory sign. If I wasn't so nervous about the end bit I would have rolled my eyes at his childish behaviour. As it was, the music faded to just Kuso playing, almost like an acoustic in the style. My voice didn't sound like my own. I realised it was trembling, and that the entire crowd had gone silent in approval.  
  
"People call me many things People just don't have a clue Because I'm just a fallen angel I'm a fallen angel A fallen angel just for you"  
  
"Thank you." I added breathlessly, rushing off the stage, leaving Kuso to enjoy his 'promoting' time. Shit. The last bit went so strange. It was like I was sitting alone in my room and singing it straight to the person I'd written it for. Not the screaming, wailing fans out there who were shrieking that they didn't judge me, they didn't think I was depressive, they had a clue; that I could be their angel.  
  
I think they missed the point.  
  
Jun rounded the corner. Damn. I searched for a way out, seeing Taichi emerging from the door behind me. I run like crazy toward him and away from Jun, who starts to sprint like a wild thing after me.  
  
"Yama, that was brilli-" I didn't let him finish the sentence, plowing straight into him instead.  
  
"Jun- stalking- help!" I told him, extremely coherantly.  
  
"Kay. Just trust me on this one." He stood, making calming noises, and waited until she was almost on top of us. Then he leaned down and carefully brushed my lips with his own. "Look like you're enjoying it, dammit." He whispered furiously. I tried. Jun stared in complete shock, before turning tail and running. Taichi grinned and stepped back. "Mission accomplished: One Vulture off your back for good." 


	3. Means to an end

Yamato stared at me. "THAT was your plan?" He asked, blue eyes wide.  
  
"Hell no. No. Nuh uh, not at all. I was planning on telling Jun that you were dating Mimi." I mumbled. "Only..."  
  
"'Only...'what?!"  
  
"Only it just seemed like an easier solution." He continued to stare at me. "C'mon, snap out of it." I laughed nervously. "I only kinda kissed you."  
  
"Dammit Taichi! Why the hell did you do that?!" He turned away. I could hear him taking deep breaths. "Why did you have to kiss me?" He whispered, all the anger gone from his voice.  
  
"Yama...?" I reached out and brushed his upper arm.  
  
He flinched away from me. "Don't. Just...don't, okay?" I spun him round and grabbed his shoulders hard. The sapphire eyes refused to meet mine, but I could see them glittering with unshed tears. "An easier solution huh?" he muttered hoarsely.  
  
"Yamato... I-" I couldn't express it. Why had he reacted so badly? It wasn't like he was homophobic, not with the whole Daisuke/Ken situation under his belt. He'd been the least suprised or ruffled by it out of all of us, and both boys instinctively turned to him for relationship advice. No, that wasn't it. And the idea of me being gay wouldn't have bothered him; hell, he stood by me through everything that I've ever gone through and my sexuality wouldn't have ever made any difference. As it was, I was only just exploring it myself - up until tonight I'd never even considered kissing another guy. So what was it?  
  
Yamato could see the questions going through my mind. He's good at reading expressions, always, is Yama. Gently removing my hands from his shoulders he sighed softly. "Taichi, it's not your fault. Don't dwell on the fact you don't understand." And then he turned and disappeared into his dressing room.  
  
I watched his retreating back, sighed to myself and headed back to find everyone else. What the hell was going on here?  
  
Daisuke met me at the stage door, confusion the primary expression stamped across his face. The others looked similarly bemused. The was a brief moment of silence, in which Ken, Miyako, Sora, Jyou, Hikari and Takeru examined my appearance for clues.  
  
"Taichi, what did you do to Jun?" Daisuke blurted out. "She came out of there as though the Hounds of Hell were on her tail, muttering something about Yamato and you..."  
  
Ah. Should've thought about the teeny tiny fact that everyone would know before acting. Ho hum. Not like it's in my nature to look before I leap. "I, uh, kinda showed her that Yamato was unavaliable."  
  
"Finally!" Miyako crowed. "Thank God, the Vulture'll leave him alone from now on!"  
  
The others smiled and generally looked pleased while I breathed a silent sigh of relief.  
  
"How?" asked Ken. Dammit. Caught.  
  
"How what?" Innocence. Innocent puppy face. C'mon, work just one more time.  
  
"How did you 'kinda show' Jun he was 'unavaliable'?" Daisuke demanded.  
  
"WellIdidn'texactlymeantobutIkindaendedupkissinghim." I mumbled, all in one long breath. Let them figure it out. I wasn't gonna say it again. I shouldn't feel ashamed of it. It was only...Yama's reaction. I didn't want to tell them when he was all weirded out about it.  
  
"You did WHAT!?" Takeru demanded. I looked down at my feet. Then straight back up again. Daisuke was restaining him from taking a wild swing at me and I really didn't get it. His best male friends were dating and he, like his brother, was so supportive. How on Earth could he have any kind of problem with me and Yamato? Not that there even was any me and Yamato.  
  
"I kissed him. It wasn't planned; it just was a means to an end."  
  
"And he knows this?!" Takeru screamed at me. I winced in the face of his anger and obvious protectiveness toward his brother.  
  
"Yeah. Only he suddenly went off on one, even knowing that."  
  
Takeru swore, long and creatively. "Oh, I'll bet he 'went off on one'. Honestly Taichi, you amaze me that even such a complete baka as you can be this utterly stupid!"  
  
"What?! I don't get it?! Yamato knows it meant nothing-" Light dawned. "Oh. Oh, oh shit. He must really hate me right now." Seven knowing faces nodded at me. "Oh shit. Why did no-one tell me?" I wailed, running backstage for the countless time that night. Looking at it objectively, and with hindsight, it was glaringly obvious. I am a total baka. Even the song....I mentally smacked myself on the head. Baka, baka, baka! Yagami Taichi, I berated myself silently, sometimes you really can live up to your dense label. 


	4. Remasking

"People call me many things People just don't have a clue Because I'm just a fallen angel."  
  
I could feel the tears dripping down my cheeks as I sang. Louder than on stage, louder than the voices inside my head that were shrieking smugnesses, louder than my own voice could manage. I spun round the room, eyes tightly shut, blocking every image from my mind as I spiralled myself dizzy. If I stopped at any point, well, then I'd have to face it. At this precise moment I was just a giddy seven year in a playground who was singing a song that he'd made up on the spur of the moment. My voice cracked and I ran out of energy, slumping into a pile of stage clothes and salt water. It wasn't a spur of the moment song. Not at all. It was meant to be everything I couldn't say straight out. And I'd thought...I thought for one blissful second that he'd managed to hear what I couldn't speak. One blissful second. But it wasn't. He hadn't. 'An easier solution'. It meant nothing. Nothing. And he'd never realise how much it had almost meant to me.  
  
"Because I'm just a fallen angel. I'm a fallen angel. A fallen angel just for you." I whispered the last line. I'd been kidding myself. He'd never like me in that way. I allowed myself a few more tears before steeling myself. I wiped off the ruined make up, clinically, coldly, removing all evidence and emotion. Taichi'd never know. I would just walk out there, apologise for being stressy; put it down to not wanting to hurt Jun's feelings in that way. We'd laugh about it later. That's what I'll do. Act like it meant nothing - stupid misunderstanding. Another cunning plan down the drain.  
  
I brushed down my hair, changed shirt and threw on a jumper. Normal. Nothing wrong with me. I'm fine. Calm, collected, cool. No autographs please. The ice persona back in place; indifferent mask slipped over the top of me. Poker player at the ready. I reached to open the door with a deep breath.  
  
I. Am. In. Control.  
  
For all of three seconds, when Taichi threw himself through the doorway, wild-eyed and slightly scary looking. However, I took those three shocked seconds to regain my emotionless state and waited.  
  
"Yamato?"  
  
"I owe you an apology." Not a flicker in my voice. Good, keep it that way. "I shouldn't have flipped on you back then. It's just that I wasn't expecting you to hurt Jun in that way. Sure, she's annoying, but that wasn't fair." Perfect.  
  
"No, it wasn't fair." Taichi agreed. I raised an eyebrow. "It's never fair if not everyone knows what's actually going on."  
  
"Exactly. I'm going to go and tell her that you were joking, and that I just wanted her to back off a little." Shrug quickly. "You never know, she might be nicer if she's less obsessive." Final card in play. "She's pretty hot actually. I was sitting here, feeling-" like my heart had been stuck through a blender, "-really guilty. She's a nice person. In fact, I was thinking of maybe going on a date with her. It's not entirely her fault; I could've been nicer. Unrequited love makes you do stupid things I guess, but it still kills you from the inside." Mask in place, considering expression. We left the changing room, Tai seeming slightly more himself. He took me at face value. I am an excellent actor. Lucky me.  
  
"Yeah, I've heard that 'unrequited love makes you do stupid things'." He added. "Like, an old friend of mine went out with this girl he hated, just cause he thought there was no chance of going out with his crush."  
  
Hmm, the irony there. If Tai's caught on, I'm so dead. But no, dense expression fixed as firmly as my emotionless mask. "Maybe that's the best way." What if his stupidity is his mask? "Do I know him?"  
  
"Yeah." Nothing more, nothing less. We carried on walking in silence. It wasn't a painful silence; it wasn't anything really; just silence. The sort that you know you'll break with some stupid comment. I tried hard, I really did.  
  
"Bit like Dai going after 'Kari when all he really wanted was Ken?" I blurted out. Way to go Yamato. Ice cool. Like big melted puddle cool.  
  
A Million-Watt-Tai-Smile was directed my way. "Yeah, just like that." We rounded the corner to where the others were waiting for us. "Only, the thing was that Ken knew what he wanted too. And, as the saying goes-"  
  
"'Never stand in the way of a dictator's desire'." I quoted, flicking a glance toward Ken in remembrance. Hey, this was actually going pretty damn well. Casual small talk puntuated with usual in jokes. Shame my heart had taken it on itself to rip into seventeen equally painful pieces.  
  
"'Niichan?" Takeru called, worry splayed across his face. He ran over and gathered me in a hug, shooting an evil glare at Taichi. I just stood, bemused, wrapped up in my taller little brother. The irony. He was being my protecter now, so it seemed.  
  
"What's the matter? Huh? Keru? I'm fine, all body parts intact."  
  
He looked at me long and hard before whispering gently, just loud enough for only me to hear, "All but your heart, right?" My mask slipped, split second.  
  
"All but." I agreed, snapping back into my persona. "So, how's about we go for pizza then? I dunno about you guys but I'm famished."  
  
"Yeah well, you're the only damn stick insect around here Ishida." Daisuke teased, slinging an arm round my shoulders. They're all bigger than me now. It's weird. Ken latched onto Daisuke's free arm, smiling at me shyly. Never a big one on public affection is Ken. I like him. We have far too much in common of course, and there's no way I'm anywhere close to his intelligence, but we're good friends. I'm his confidant; Tai's Daisuke's. Strange, isn't it? How someone that bright would think I had any of the answers he needed when I had none for myself. But that's often the way of it.  
  
"I'd love to, but I'm expecting an enthusiastic phone call about how nice Fiji is this time of year." Jyou. Of course. I'd forgotten: Mimi always calls him on Sunday nights. She'd want to know how the concert went.  
  
"Give her my love." I called after him. I could see Sora shifting away from the group also. "The invitation extends to you as well."  
  
She looked shocked. "I, uh, didn't expect... well, the song made it pretty clear how you felt about me."  
  
"Peace offering?" I asked, holding out a hand to her. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said all that so publically. Just, what I can't say in real life I can always sing." 


	5. THANKS!

And this, my pretties, would be a thank you to all those lovely people who have reviewed so nicely on the mass upload from a couple of days ago!  
  
Unfortunately, now I have to regroup the muses and write some more. *Groans* if only essay writing wasn't obligatory at university I'd be happy.. 


End file.
